This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-274831, filed Sep. 11, 2000, the entire contents of this application is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storing device for paper sheets for storing paper sheets such as banknotes, gift certificates, and postcards.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, a storing device for paper sheets of this kind is generally known including a device main body formed in a box shape, an insertion port for a banknote provided at a front face of the device main body, a conveyor mechanism for conveying an inserted banknote through a conveying passage, a banknote detector for detecting a banknote in the conveying passage, and a banknote storing section for storing banknotes conveyed by the aforementioned conveyor mechanism in a stack. Banknotes are stored in this banknote storing section.
The aforementioned banknote storing section is constituted by a pair of rails placed at both left and right sides of a conveyed banknote, for allowing the banknote to be inserted between them, a first plate placed at the back side of the banknote and forward pressed, a second plate placed at the front side of the banknote and movable in a back and forth direction of the banknote, and a moving mechanism for moving the second plate, the second plate being moved toward the first plate by the moving mechanism.
The aforementioned moving mechanism is constituted by pantograph arms connected to the second plate, intersecting each other in an X form, and extensible and contractible in the back and forth direction, a drive shaft provided at the intersection of the pantograph arms, a cam abutting this drive shaft for moving the drive shaft in the back and forth direction, and a drive motor for driving the cam. Thus, the pantograph arms are extended and contracted back and forth by the drive motor, whereby a banknote is stored in such a manner that it is inserted between the first plate and the rails (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-108925).
In this storing device for banknotes, when a banknote is conveyed to a space between the rails of the banknote storing section, the moving mechanism moves the second plate backward, so that the second plate moves the banknote to behind the rails. After the banknote moves to behind the rails, the second plate is moved forward to return to the original position, and the banknote is pressed by the front face of the first plate and the rear face of each rail to be stored. Specifically, by repeating the aforementioned operation of moving the drive shaft in the back and forth direction via the cam to reciprocate the second plate, banknotes are stored in a stack in the back and forth direction inside the banknote storing section.
However, when the second plate is reciprocated in the aforementioned banknote storing device, the drive shaft is moved in the back and forth direction (a direction substantially perpendicular to the face of the second plate) via the cam, and thus the dimension in the back and forth direction of the cam, which takes a moving stroke of the drive shaft, becomes large. Accordingly, there arises a disadvantage that the dimension in the back and forth direction of the section for storing banknotes are reduced by the dimension in the back and forth direction of the cam body and thereby the number of banknotes that can be stored decreases. As a result, in the automatic vending machines including the above kind of devices, the stored banknotes have to be frequently collected, which imposes a heavy burden on the banknotes collecting workers.
It can be envisioned to increase the dimension in the back and forth direction of the device in order to increase the number of banknotes that can be stored, but in this case, there arises a disadvantage that the dimensions in the back and forth direction of the other devices should be reduced.
The present invention is made in view of the aforementioned disadvantages, and its object is to provide a storing device for paper sheets capable of increasing the number of banknotes that can be stored without increasing the dimension in a back and forth direction of a device main body.
In order to attain the aforementioned object, the present invention provides a storing device for paper sheets comprising conveyor means for conveying an inserted paper sheet through a conveying passage, a paper sheet storing section for storing the paper sheets conveyed by the conveyor means in a stack, a first plate placed at one face of the paper sheet inside the paper sheet storing section, a second plate placed at the other face of the paper sheet, and moving means for moving the second plate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the face of the paper sheets, wherein the aforementioned moving means is constituted by arms each connected to the second plate at one end thereof, and drive means for moving the second plate in the direction substantially perpendicular to the face of the paper sheets by moving the other end of the arms substantially parallel to the second plate.
According to the present invention, the drive force of the drive means is applied to the other end of the arms, and the other end of the arms are moved substantially parallel to the second plate, and thus a space in the direction substantially perpendicular to the face, which is required for the arm movement, can be reduced as compared with the case in which the central part of the arm is driven. Consequently, the dimension in the direction substantially perpendicular to the face of the section for storing the paper sheets can be sufficiently secured, thus making it possible to increase the number of paper sheets that can be stored without increasing the dimension in the direction substantially perpendicular to the face of the device main body.